Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
39°54′27.61″N 116°19′03.80″E / 39.9076694°N 116.3177222°E
Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, or China People's Revolution Military Museum (Chinese: 中国人民革命军事博物馆; pinyin: Zhōngguó rénmín gémìng jūnshì bówùguǎn) is located in Haidian District, Beijing, China. The museum displays restored military equipment from the history of the People's Liberation Army, up to and including modern-day machinery.
One of the Ten Great Buildings erected in celebration of the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, construction of the museum began in October 1958 and ended in 1960. As of February 2012, the museum is undergoing renovation work (with only outdoor exhibits, paintings, and plaques viewable).
Collections
The museum's four floors include ten halls, the largest of which is the Hall of Weapons. The Hall's extensive holdings of antiquated weaponry showcase domestic and foreign weapons, including blades, small arms, artillery, tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air weaponry, jet fighters, rockets and rocket launchers, and cruise missiles. Foreign weapons include Soviet tanks purchased or donated during the 1950s and 1960s, Japanese weaponry captured during the Sino-Japanese War, American weaponry captured from the Kuomintang during the Chinese Civil War and from UN forces during the Korean War. In addition, the Hall of Weapons displays equipment from China's space program, such as satellites and a two-seat orbital capsule.
With two exceptions, the other halls are largely historical exhibits, combining plaster sculptures, maps, paintings, artifacts, movies, and plaques (in Chinese, with select ones translated into English). The other nine halls include:
- The Hall of the Agrarian Revolutionary War: Confrontations between 1927 and 1937 of the Chinese Communist Party and the ruling Kuomintang
- The Hall of the War to Resist Japanese Aggression: The 1937-1947 Second Sino-Japanese War
- The Hall of the War of Liberation of China: The 1945-1949 period of the Chinese Civil War
- The Hall of Ancient Wars: Internal and external wars during the 4,000 years before the Qing Dynasty
- The Hall of Modern Wars: Internal and external wars between 1840 and 1949
- The Hall of National Defense and Army Building: Modern military achievements and developments since 1949
- The Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea: Chinese involvement in the Korean War
- The Hall of Presents: Gifts to the Chinese military or state by foreign militaries or states
- The Hall of Cheng Yunxian's Sculptural Arts: Plaster reproductions of sculptures of world leaders, historical figures, and scientists by Cheng Yunxian
Visiting
Currently, the museum is open to free admission, though visitors must show identification and consent to any security bag checks. The museum is accessible by Line 1 of the Beijing Subway at the Military Museum Station and city bus routes 1, 4, 21, 65, 68, 205, 308, 320, 337, 617, 728, and 802.
Gallery
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A Chinese Dongfeng (Eastwind) EQ2050 vehicle -
Second Sino-Japanese War Machineguns -
Cars of Zhu De and Mao Zedong -
Chinese first atomic bomb -
Chinese PF-98 120 mm rocket launcher -
A Dongfeng 2 (CSS-1) medium-range ballistic missile -
A Type 72 metallic anti-tank mine on display at the museum -
A ZBD-97 IFV vehicle -
A Dongfeng 1 (SS-2) missile seen from the balcony -
A Type 95 SPAAG vehicle -
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A PLZ-05 155mm Self-propelled Howitzer -
A KS-1A mobile SAM launcher vehicle -
The main building of the China People's Revolution Military Museum
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See also
